Otonokizaka Castle Side Stories
by Roomie
Summary: A series of side stories and moments between the girls of the Fantasy AU The Knight and the maiden. Each chapter will follow different characters and different events or ideas that wouldn't fit into the main story.
1. Maki Gets a Cold

Welcome! For those of you who read my other fic, TKATM, these are various side stories that happen between chapters. They're mainly scenes and drabbles I wanted to add but wasn't sure how to write into the main fic. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy these side stories!

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"Captain, I'm fine."

"You clearly aren't, Maki."

Breakfast was finished and Eli's squad was off to do their jobs. Before Maki could leave the table, Eli had stopped her. The moment she had arrived to breakfast, she was a mess. Her tunic was messy, her nose had a tint of red to it, and she clearly did not sleep as well as she would have liked to. She barely touched her food and didn't drink at all, and it was quite obvious that the reason behind it was because she hadn't dried properly from working in the rain the day before.

"Maki, you've got a cold." Eli said flatly. Maki frowned.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired and have a sore throat. I'll live." Maki tried to brush it off. Eli gave her a stern gaze.

"Alright, here are your choices, Maki." Eli says. "You either take the day off and rest so that you're fit for tomorrow, or you do the exact thing I just said." Maki opens her mouth to respond before furrowing her eyebrows.

"Those are the same options!" she said, and Eli nods.

"No work for you today Maki, your cold will just get worse." She looks over to Nico, who had been waiting off to the side for Maki.

"Nico!" Eli calls out, and Nico looks directly to Eli.

"Yes, Captain?!" She exclaims, stepping over.

"There's a change of plans today. Maki's sick, so she won't be able to do her jobs." Nico's eyes widened a bit, excitement creeping into her expression. Did Eli trust her enough to give her all of Maki's duties? Nico was preparing her mental bragging speech to recite to Nozomi later on, until Eli continued speaking.

"I'm leaving Maki to you for the day. Please make sure she rests, eats something, and be sure to check if she gets a fever."

Nico stare dumbfound at Eli.

"Wait, you want me to skip my duties to take care of Maki?!" She asked.

"Well, you are her junior. Umi and Rin won't mind filling in for you two today." Eli replies. Nico frowns more and Eli raises an eyebrow. "Unless you can't take care of a sick person?" She asks.

"Of course I can!" Nico responds instantly, then sighs. "If that's what you say, then I have no choice." Nico walks over to the half lidded Maki, who was starting to feel the cold hit her more. She grabbed her by the wrist, and looked to Eli.

"If you see Hanayo, tell her I need the kitchen staff to prepare their best broth. Actually, maybe you should find Hanayo and tell her that right away." Eli was surprised by Nico's instruction, but nods.

"I can do that. Anything else?"  
"Yeah, I'll need someone to bring me warm water every couple of hours. Not lukewarm, not really hot, but warm enough where it's perfect bathing temperature. Also towels nobody cares about getting messy." Eli nods again, understanding the instructions. Nico lifts a hand to Maki's forehead, catching the attention of the red head for the first time since she grabbed her wrist. Nico frowns slightly.

"Come on Maki-chan, you're starting to feel warm." Nico pulls Maki out of the dining hall and begins the walk back to her room. Maki sluggishly followed, frowning a bit.

"Nico-chan, I'm okay. Really." She says in a hoarse, unconvincing voice.

"Even if you say you are, the Captain wants me to help you today." Nico responds, reaching Maki's door and opening it with ease. She pulls Maki inside, shutting the door behind them and gesturing to her dresser.

"You should change into your night wear, and while you do that I'm going to throw my gear in my room." She says. She narrows her eyes a bit. "And don't try to escape, you're sick and it'll be easy to track you down and bring you back to your room." Maki sighs, only nodding slightly as an answer. Nico exits the room, and Maki begins to get changed back into her pyjamas.

She climbs into her bed with a sour face, her stuffy nose bothering her more than words could say. As the thought hit her, Nico entered with some small, folded towels. Maki looks over to her and see's a maid with a small bucket, handing it to Nico after she puts the towels down on top of the table near Maki's door. Maki noticed Nico now wore only her tunic, her sword and gloves gone. Nico thanked the maid, sending her on her way and turning to Maki, who now lay comfortably under the covers of her bed.

"What's with the face?" Nico asks, rolling up her sleeves. "You can't honestly tell me you wanted to work. You look like shit, and you probably feel just as shitty." Maki frowns.

"I don't like wasting my time." She answers, watching Nico dip a towel into the bucket of water. "It gets boring in here, and I can never sleep right when I'm sick." her voice turns whiney, and she crosses her arms on her chest.

"I don't want to stay in bed. I want to work and train for the festival." Maki grumbles, before scrunching her nose up. She sits up quickly, feeling a sneeze coming on. In an instant, a cloth is pressed to her nose just in time. Maki sneezes, groaning loudly the moment it passes.

"Maki-chan, that's gross." Nico cringes, letting the sickly girl take the soiled cloth from her. Maki frowns more, wiping her nose.

"I can't help it." She mumbles.

After wiping her nose clean, Nico instructs Maki to lie down. Maki does as she's told, and Nico places a folded wet cloth on her forehead. It's soothing, and Maki can feel a nostalgic moment as she watches Nico begin arranging the extra towels on her side table. She's reminded of a time in her younger days when she felt sick and her mother would nurse her back to full health. The sickly girl continues to watch Nico as she recalls a particular time in her life when she had been really sick.

"This feels familiar." Maki mumbles, catching Nico's attention.

"Does it?" Nico asks, moving a chair closer to the bed. Maki nods lightly, closing her eyes.  
"Mama did the exact same things when I was little." She says tiredly, sleep finally beginning to take over. It isn't long after that Maki finally falls asleep, leaving her temporary nurse to sit quietly by herself.

Maki is woken up at lunch time by Nico, who has a bowl of a delicious smelling soup. Hanayo is there as well, checking in on her friend. Maki sits up in the bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"You look better than you did this morning, Maki-chan." Hanayo comments, and Nico nods.

"With the medicine you brought as well as another long nap and my amazing help, Maki will be feeling better in no time." Nico says, handing the bowl of soup to Maki carefully. She thanks the both of them, and Hanayo smiles.

"Anything to help you get better, Maki-chan. The cooks made this tomato soup just for you, so be sure to eat it all, okay?" Hanayo asks, and Maki nods, promising to do her best. Hanayo says a small good bye, promising that her and Rin would drop by to check on her later.

"Have you been here this whole time?" Maki asks, stirring the soup with a spoon. Nico shakes her head.

"No, Honoka had stopped by and I asked her to keep an eye on you while I took a break." Nico replies, grabbing her own bowl and spoon. "You're a pretty uneventful sleeper Maki-chan, I expected you to sleep talk or snore really loud, but nope. You're quiet and boring."

Maki rolls her eyes as she sips some of her soup, humming in satisfaction as the warm broth smoothly travels down her sore throat. The two eat their lunch quietly, and once finished, Nico hands the medicine to Maki. She wordlessly swallows it, drinking some water and then leaning back against her headboard. Nico had taken the cloth from her forehead, dipping it in a new bucket of water and ringing it out to place back on the spot it rested before. Maki watches as she puts the dirty dishes to the side, then takes her seat again.

"This really is nostalgic." She comments. Nico quirks and eyebrow, and Maki continues.

"Whenever I was sick when I was younger, Mama would always stay by my side and watch me. Papa and Mama make medicine and Papa trained to be a healer, so they both did their best to always make sure I was healthy."

"She's always make tomato soup and we'd always eat together, just like we did." Maki blushes slightly, looking away embarrassed. Nico smirks a bit to herself as she listens to Maki's story.

"In a way it's kinda nostalgic for me too." She says. Maki turns her attention back to the black haired girl, and she excitedly watches as Nico stretches, sitting more comfortably.

"I used to be a really reckless kid ya know?" Nico starts. "A lot of the village kids teased me because I don't really look my age. That or they were jealous of how cute I was. Either way, I wasn't popular for being an amazing perfect and strong girl, it was more like I was popular because I was a trouble maker. I got into fights with the boys a lot, and I constantly kept getting dragged away from the market by my Papa because of it."

"One day it was raining pretty heavy and Mama and I were trying to help out Papa with the fields. Even in bad weather, a farmer still has to work. It could get pretty rough sometimes." Nico sighs a bit, then continues. "But we got the job done! And you know what happened? Some idiots thought they could steal from our barn! I still don't get why to this day! Two people can't steal a giant plough! And all are farm tools were outside because we were using them!"

"Naturally, I chased them down and I beat em up. They were pretty pathetic really, but they ended up getting away because Mama and Papa found me."

Maki yawned, lying back in her bed and continuing to listen as Nico talked about her Father and Mother scolding her for it. Even though the boys were wrong, it didn't mean Nico should chase after them and beat them up during bad whether. She smiled lightly, imagining a tiny angry Nico kicking kids in the shin and yelling obscene words.

"You sound like a really dumb kid." Maki comments. Nico frowns.

"Hey! I'll have you know I was and still am the cutest kid that could beat you up." She replies. Maki shakes her head slightly, and Nico smiles.

"Well anyway, after that I got really sick. A pretty bad cold, not to mention the bruises and scrapes from fighting the two boys. Mama and Papa helped me get better, and when they couldn't they taught me everything I needed to do. So even when I was sick, I could still help myself."

"After that, when I got better Papa suggested I use all the energy I have beating up other kids into becoming a knight." Nico watched Maki yawn again and smiled slightly. "But I guess that's a story for another time."

She watches as Maki shuts her eyes, sleep beginning to consume her again. Before the sleep completely hits her, she opens an eye a crack, staring directly at Nico with a small smirk.

"You were a pretty weird kid." Nico frowns, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, well you're also really weird. Trying to work when your sick? Who does that?" She smiles lightly, watching Maki chuckle.

"The Captain maybe?" Maki says quietly, causing Nico to laugh. She smiles a bit more. "Umi's smart enough to know to take care of herself, and Rin and Honoka hate doing anything when they're sick." She turns her body towards Nico, lying on her side and closing her eyes.

"I'll tell Nozomi to scold the Captain for being a bad influence on you then." is the last words Maki hears before she falls back asleep, a tiny smile at the corner of her lips.

The rest of the day was spent with each other, and at dinner time Maki felt better than ever. The medicine was working fast, and thanks to Nico's help her cold wasn't too bothersome at all. As Nico was about to leave there was a knock at Maki's door. She stood up and answered it, and there stood the captain holding a tray with what was most likely dinner for Maki and Nico. Resisting the urge to smirk, Nico opened the door wide and grinned.

"Captain! What a surprise. Come to check on Maki?" She says cheekily. Eli only nods.

"Since I was heading this way, I offered to deliver it." She steps inside the room, and Maki sat up properly. Eli smile towards her, speaking in a softer tone than she usually had.

"How are you feeling?" She placed the tray down, and Nico took over, stirring the contents of the stew and making a pleased sound.

"Actually, I'm feeling great." Maki replies. She's thanks Nico as Nico places the bowl in her lap, and Eli smiles.

"I'm glad to hear that." Eli replies, watching as Nico took the seat she had occupied most of the day.  
"Nico, thank you for doting on Maki for the day." Nico shrugs.

"It's not a problem." She waves her hand, before picking up her spoon. "Unless I get sick. Then you're taking the blame, Captain." Eli chuckles slightly.

"Well that's only fair." she says. "Then should I dote on you if you get sick, Nico?" theres a playful hint to Eli's voice, and it almost causes Maki to spit out the bite of stew she had taken. Nico shrugs.

"Well if you're offering..." Maki turns away, shaking slightly in an effort to contain any laughter.

When she composes herself, she idly eats as Eli and Nico talk, swapping stories of the day. It's very small, but Maki can feel nothing but complete bliss. In the end, Maki decided that this sick day wasn't so bad.


	2. The Attack

AN: Hello everyone! Welcome to the second side story! It's one adventure right from beginning to end~ This scene happens between Chapter 6 of TKATM and Chapter 7. Thank you for all reviews, follows, favs, and for reading!

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The loud blare of horns sound loudly through the castle, and Eli wakes with a start. She quickly pushes herself up on the bed, disturbing her partner and earning a disgruntled noise from her.

"Intruders." Eli mumbles worriedly, before turning to Nozomi. Nozomi had curled up into a small ball, a frown on her face. Eli didn't take the time to appreciate the different expression as she nudged her with both hands, stirring the other girl.

"Nozomi! Get up, we have an emergency!" As soon as the words left Eli's mouth, Nozomi sat up, her eyes quickly widening as she processed Eli's words in her half awake state. The blonde threw herself out of bed, running to her dresser and grabbing the clothes she had laid out for the next day.

Nozomi opens her mouth to speak, but is cut off by the sound of more horns being blown in the distance. She looks alarmed as she throws the blankets off of herself, running towards her clothes as well. Both girls don't bother to make their way behind the screen as the urgent sounds continue to echo throughout the castle corridors, surely waking up anybody who could hear them.

"What's going on?!" Nozomi calls over to Eli, buttoning up her tunic as quickly as possible.

"Someone must has breached the castle walls." Eli replies, grabbing her sword and unsheathing it, then grabbing a small bundle of rope from the wall. "We have an intruder in the castle."

Nozomi's eyes widen a bit, and Eli heads to the door.

"Wait, Elichi!" Nozomi's voice is anxious, and Eli turns to her, not saying a word as she pauses in front of the door.

"Elichi, I don't have my sword yet!" Eli's eyes widen as well, and she looks around the room. They had bought a custom sword for Nozomi just the day before, but it would take a week to make, leaving the girl weaponless until then. The knight hadn't thought about keeping another sword as a just in case weapon in her room before, and she cursed under her breath upon realizing this quick thinking, she turns her gaze back to Nozomi, nothing but determination in her intense gaze.

"Here's the plan." She says, putting her supplies down and grabbing Nozomi by the shoulders. "You're going to run to the Princess' room to where Umi will be. Get permission from her to use one of the swords in her room. She won't leave Kotori's side, but Rin will be there. Rin will go with you to make sure you get a sword. Stay calm, and you're going to be okay." Nozomi only nods, swallowing down a nervous lump in her throat.

"If you run into the intruder, avoid them and keep running. Don't try to fight until you have a sword, understood? Remember everything from our training, and you'll be okay." Nozomi nods again, her eyes reflecting the determination she began to feel.

An impatient knock is heard at the door, and Eli whips it open to reveal Maki, standing there fully dressed and armed. No words are said and Eli grabs her sword and the rope, before her and Nozomi rush out of the room. Nozomi and Maki nod to each other in acknowledgement, not having time for a proper greeting. Before the blonde and the red haired girl get ready to leave, Nozomi wishes them good luck, dashing towards the staircase that lead to the floor where the princess' room was. Maki and Eli begin dashing the other way, Eli asking if Maki had heard any word of update.

"Nothing yet, Captain. I came straight to you." Ei only nods.

"We need to be quick."

Both girls sprint fast down the hallways, descending the stairs. Along the way they bump into Fumiko, who immediately stops them to update them on the situation.

"According to Akira, there were two of them. Mika, Hideko and I examined the area breached, and the intruders literally climbed up the north wall. We know nothing more."

Eli thanked her, sending her on her way and to tell every knight she came across to capture the thugs by any means necessary and to leave them alive. Eli began sprinting forward, Maki following closely behind her.

"We have to head to the treasury. If the intruders aren't already there, then we will be ready for them." Eli says with confidence. Maki doesn't reply as they continue to sprint down the steps.

"Captain! Maki-chan!" The voice of Rin catches their ears, and the ginger haired girl comes to a quick stop, breathing heavily as she reaches them. Nico isn't far behind her, her breath heavy and her hair tied messily. Her sword held tightly in her hand as she looked worriedly around the area.

"Rin! Nico" Maki exclaims, looking at her with concern. "Have you two met up with Umi?! Why are you here?!"

"U-Umi-chan said to find you! The intruders were sighted in the east wing. They have weapons!" Eli frowns and Nico speaks up.

"Where's Nozomi?!" She asks urgently, looking around. "Captain, I thought she'd be with you, where's Nozomi!?"

"I sent her to Umi, she was supposed to meet Rin at the Princess' room." Eli explains, as she looks directly to Rin. "Did you not meet up with her?!"

"No, Captain! Ma'am!" Rin says nervously. "Umi told me to find you as soon as possible! I ran into Nico-chan along the way!" Eli curses again.

"Rin, head to Umi's room and grab one of her swords. I'll apologize to her later. Nozomi's unarmed, I sent her to Umi with the chances of her meeting up with you so that you both could grab it."

Nico curses loudly.

"What if she ran into the intruders!?" Nico all but shouts, and Maki cuts in.

"Nico-chan! Focus!" Nico's eyes fall to the red head, and she continues. "Nozomi has specific instructions, she's going to be fine."

Eli and Rin were silent as the two girls stared directly at each other, having their own conversation with just their gazes. Eventually, Nico looked away, her frown never once leaving her face.

"Got it. Sorry Captain, sorry Maki-chan."

"We can't waste anymore time. Rin, get going. Nico, come with us." Eli instructs.

"Got it, Captain!" Rin shouts, before sprinting back the way she came. Eli frowns a bit, before looking at Maki.

"We need to hurry. If they were in the east wing, this means they know where the treasury is. They might be there already." The blonde instructs, and the three of them continue their journey towards the treasury. Eli sprints a few paces ahead, and Nico looks at Maki as the both of them speed after Eli.

"I have to go, Maki-chan." Her gaze is serious. "Give the Captain some excuse for me, I have to find Nozomi." Maki frowns.

"Nico, you were given an order from the Captain." Maki whispers harshly. "You've already attracted enough attention to make both Umi and the Captain suspicious of you!" They round the corner, and Nico turns away from Maki, looking at Eli's back as they continue to follow her.

"She's unarmed! What if she met up with them!?" Nico hisses, glaring at Eli's back. "I'll never forgive her if that's the case."

"You know what-" Maki begins, stopping abruptly. "Forget it, heres whats going to happen." She watches Nico stop quickly, then shouts.

"Captain! You and Nico keep going, I'm going to head around the other way to the treasury!" Nico's eyes narrow, her facial expression all but pleased with the red heads choice. Eli stops, her breathing a bit heavy as she nods.

"Fine! Get going!" Eli shouts back, before gesturing to Nico. "Nico! Keep up!" Eli begins running again, and Nico sprints, forcing her shorter legs to catch up with the blonde.

The duo make it to the treasury, no signs of anyone being near or around the room full of expensive goods and gold. Eli and Nico's breaths are heavy, their eyes scanning the area closely. Nico grabs the door to the room, pulling it. When the door didn't open, she sighed, relived it was still locked.

"We got here first." Nico says, looking to Eli. "What now, Captain?"

Eli wipes a bit of sweat from her brow, looking in the other hallway direction.

"We wait." She answers. "Many intruders come here for the gold or the crown. The crown is safely protected in the Queen's chambers with her and her guards, and since we've arrived before the intruders, we're prepared. The Queen's guards will arrest them if they come across them, and we'll get them if they come around here."

"Alright." Nico says, looking down to the other corridor.

The two stand silent and ready, prepared for anything and everything that might come their way. Eli waits with baited breath for someone, anyone to appear around the corner.

As if reading her thoughts, Maki appears, running as fast as she can towards them.

"CAPTAIN!" She shouts, "CAPTAIN THEY AREN'T COMING HERE."

"WHAT?!" Eli shouts back, watching as Maki approaches them, her breathing short and her face flushed from the speed.

"I-I ran right into them." She pants. "B-both are wearing dark cloaks, y-you can barely see them. We got into a squabble." Maki holds up a torn piece of paper, handing it over to Eli quickly.

"T-They've got a map of the castle. I only got part of it, but its a part that's marked." Maki gestures to a bit of ink on the parchment and Eli examines it closely.

"I don't understand." Eli says confused. "This square, this has to be the library. The library isn't anywhere near a place with items of value."

Nico took the parchment from Eli, examining it herself.

"What's on the floor above the library?" She asked, turning the torn page different ways to get a better angle of some sort.

"Since the library is so tall, the floor above it is the third floor. There are a few various rooms like the princess' sewing room and the Queen's second study, and Honoka and Umi's rooms are there as well because in case of an emergency, they'll be quick to get to-." Maki suddenly stops what she was saying, realization dawning on the three of them.

"They're headed for the Princess!" Eli declares, sprinting away from the treasury.

The trio run as fast as possible up the stairs in the direction of the Kotori's room, moving as fast as possible. Nico has to pause up the stairs, shouting for the others to keep going. She puts her hands on her knees, breathing heavily and doing her best to take in as much air as her lungs could take. Eli and Maki continued up the stairs, never once stopping after Nico encouraged them to continue.

The enter the corridor and the sounds of swords colliding echoes throughout the area. Many candles had gone out, leaving very little light to see with, but just enough to tell who was who. Right in front of them stands Umi, protecting the room with her life. The door was shut tightly, and Umi looked like she was having her fair share at fending off the two intruders.

Without skipping a beat, Eli pushes herself over to them, raising her sword. Hearing the oncoming footsteps, one of the attackers turned and quickly blocked Eli's strike. Eli pushed with all her might, her furious gaze boring into the eyes of a girl with brown hair styled into two fluffy pigtails. The girl glared, pushing back, but to no avail.

"Umi! They're targeting the princess!" Maki shouts as she arrives, ready to assist. Umi's eyes darken as the information she had been wondering was confirmed.

"Maki! Eli! Cover for me!" Umi shouts. Before the other attacker can strike at Umi, Maki is there in a flash, blocking any attacked from hitting the navy haired girl.

Umi retreats into Kotori's room, shouting a quick command to Honoka. Eli and Maki don't bother listening in on whatever conversation they might be having, focusing their attention on the two intruders. The blonde and redhead worked diligently, pushing the attackers away from the door with their strikes and blows. Umi and Honoka soon emerge from the room, Umi carrying Kotori in her arms and making a mad dash down the long corridor. Honoka follows closely, her sword in hand and watching as Eli and Maki keep the other two distracted. After them Nozomi emerges from the room, a sword gripped tightly in her hand as she watches Eli and Maki gracefully fight the two of them. She shuts the door behind her, turning her attention down to the fleeing trio to make sure they had escaped safely.

"Shit! Sachiko! They're getting away!" The brown haired girl yells. Theres a grumble from the other girl, who's hood now fell off to reveal a silver haired girl around the same age as them.

"Break away, Mutsuki!" the silver haired girl shouts. The other girl nods, quickly ducking away from Eli.

It had happened all too fast. The girl ,Mutsuki, had slipped away from Eli, kicking Eli's legs out from underneath her during the process. Eli hadn't been quick enough, her side step being only a bit slow, causing her to stumble and land on the hard floor. Eli couldn't process what had happened next, but when Nozomi shouts "Leave her to me!" Eli knows that they'd still have the upper hand.

Sachiko took this as her moment, and with a quick slash of her sword, Maki's left arm had been sliced open in a large, gruesome gash. Maki cried out in pain, clutching her arm tightly. Eli quickly pushed herself off of the floor, aiming her sword at the only enemy in front of them. Her blade came into contact with Eli's roughly, both girls pushing their swords harder against one another. Elis hands had been sweating terribly, and the perspiration had made it difficult to keep a good grip on her blade. It was then she had realized her one mistake was not grabbing her gloves. The enemy girl pulled back quickly, then aimed another fast strike at the captain. Eli had no time to get a proper grip on her sword, and was disarmed faster than Rin could say "NYA."

Eli refused to give up. Sachiko swung her sword, and Eli dodged it as best as she could. This continued for only a short moment, before Eli slipped on her own blade, falling onto her bottom with a rough 'thud'. Eli closed her eyes and braced herself for a strike coming directly towards her, but when the sound of the enemies blade clanking loudly with a new sword was heard, her eyes opened in a flash. She stares with her eyes wide in surprise at the person who came to her rescue.

Standing before her was Nico, her intense red eyes glaring harshly at Sachiko. Sachiko grit her teeth together, fighting back against her new opponent, but to no avail. Nico swiftly pulled her blade away, swinging her sword fast and hard, forcing Sachiko away from Eli and the injured Maki. Eli let out a small sigh of relief, before moving quickly to Maki, who now sat against the wall as she examined her arm.

"Maki, are you alright?" Eli asked concerned. Maki only nods.

"It's large, not too deep, but stings like crazy. A hard hit against my sword would probably make me drop it." Maki mumbles, only holding her arm as she watched Nico battle with an intense yet relieved gaze. She was willing all of her fight power to her subordinate as she battled the grey haired intruder.

Sachiko's sword is soon on the ground, and Nico kicks it away as fast as possible, now pointing her blade to the chest of the intruder. Eli stands quickly, grabbing the sword and tossing it farther down the hall before nearing the villain. Eli grabbed her roughly by her cloak, her intense blue eyes staring at the now terrified woman in her grasp.

"Targeting the princess is punishable by death, you realize." Eli spits, and the girl pales.

Not giving her a chance to answer, Eli pulls the rope she had brought along with her off of her belt, grabbing the criminals arms and tying her wrists together tightly. As she finishes, she huffs and looks at Nico.

"Escort her to the prison." Eli demands, and Nico snorts.

"Gladly."

"CAPTAIN!" The shout startles Eli, and she turns swiftly to see Rin for the second time that night. Her face bright red, proving she had run as fast as possible.

"NOZOMI NEEDS YOU!" she shouts. "I DON'T KNOW IF SHE CAN HOLD HER OFF! SHE'S TOO MUCH FOR US!"

Eli and Nico share a look, before Eli quickly bends down, grabbing her sword and dashing towards the entrance Rin had arrived from. It takes everything in Nico not to follow, until Maki pushes herself up from the ground.

"Nico! Go!" Maki says. "Rin! Help me bring this girl to the basement cell!"

Rin quickly swaps places with Nico, the two of them giving each other a quick high five as they passed one another. Nico quickly follows Eli down the steps and into the second floor hallway, where distant sounds of sword clashing could be heard. The two of them run quickly, the sounds getting louder and louder, until they round around the corner and to see the battle at hand.

Nozomi's hair had been cut loose from its ponytail, her face flushed and her arms shaking as she tried to push back against the brown haired girl. With a hard push, the sword she held had been shoved back against her, the force of it pushing her into the wall roughly. Nozomi gasped, her sword clattering to the ground loudly.

In the blink of an eye, Nico was there. Her eyes now seethed with rage and her sword now clashing against Mutsuki's. Mutsuki's eyes widened in surprise at the arrival of the shorter girl, but she held her ground and pulled away, beginning a new fight between herself and her new opponent. Eli too, had moved over in a flash, letting Nico take the battle and moving to Nozomi, kneeling down to her.

"Nozomi!" She said in quiet alarm. The violet haired girl looked to her, her eyes relieved and a small smile on her lips. Eli returned the smile with one of her own, grabbing her hand and pulling her up from the floor.

"Well done, Nozomi." Eli whispered. "Did we keep you waiting long?"

"Not too long." Nozomi replies tiredly, her eyes worriedly watching as Nico continued to furiously strike at the other girl.

Eli tightens her grip on her sword, letting go of Nozomi's hand and entering the battle herself. Nico and Mutsuki look surprised towards her, and Eli's eyes meet Nico's. In their two second gaze to each other, both girls smirk and soon Mutsuki is overwhelmed and unable to defend from both Nico and Eli's attacks. Eli successfully gets Mutsuki to drop her sword, and Nico aims a hard kick to the girls gut, propelling her backward onto the floor. She lay there, clutching her stomach and groaning loudly in pain. Eli didn't waste any time in grabbing another set of rope and tying up the injured girl.

Eli quickly finishes, hoisting the other girl up and keeping her tightly in her grasp. Mutsuki didn't struggle, knowing full well this was the end for her. Eli turns to the other girls, opening her to make a request, but quickly shuts it at the sight before her. Nozomi and Nico are in a tight embrace, no words being said and Nozomi's face buried in Nico's shoulder. The other girl held her friend tightly, making brief eye contact with Eli. Eli only smiles lightly, before tugging Mutsuki away.

Other foot steps round the corner, revealing an exhausted looking Rin. Her breathing has gotten immensely heavier, and the sweat dripping off her face shows that she had barely stopped running between when the invasion began and now. She smiles, relieved to see Eli had the last of the intruders captured and that the situation had arrived in time to help Nozomi. Eli stepped over to the ginger haired girl, who grinned widely.

"I can escort her to the prison for you, Captain!" Rin grins. Eli smiles, shoving the criminal roughly towards Rin.

"Are you sure?" She asks, and Rin only nods. "Thank you, Rin. Since you've been nothing but a blessing with your speed and communication, take the whole day off to yourself tomorrow." Rin's smile widens, and she nods.

"With pleasure, Captain!" The ginger haired girl begins escorting the criminal back out of the hall and towards the basement where the jail cells were held. Eli turns her attention back to the other two, who had pulled away from the hug and were watching Eli and Rin talk. Eli walks over to them, smiling proudly.

"Well done Nico, Nozomi. You successfully helped protect the castle from an attack." Nico grins a bit, and Nozomi keeps her tired smile on her face. Eli smiles at Nico.

"You especially, Nico. If it weren't for you, I may have been bleeding out in front of the princess' door." Nico can feel Nozomi's eyes on her, but she doesn't dare look away from the captain. She simply gives Eli a small grin.

"Does this mean I get tomorrow off too?" Eli quirks her eyebrow at the shorter girl, who lifts her hands in defence. "Alright, alright, I still gotta work. That's alright."

"Elichi, where's Maki-chan?" Nozomi asks. Nico and Eli look over to her.

"She escorted the first intruder to the prison cells. By now she's probably paying Hanayo a visit." Eli replies. When both girls look quizically at her, Eli continues. "Maki was injured during the fight."

"Was that why she was clutching her arm..?" Nico says, frowning worriedly. Eli nods.

"It was nothing but a deep cut. She'll be fine, and that's whats important." Eli points out, and Nozomi nods. "Nico, before heading to bed, I want you to get the message to Umi and Honoka that the intruders were caught and everything is okay." Nico only nods.

"Yes, Captain." Theres concern on her face still, and Nozomi gives the girl a reassuring head pat.

"Afterward you can go check on Maki-chan and dote on her like when she was sick~" She teases, and Nico ends up pushing her hand away with a slight flustered face.

"W-Why would I do something like that over a cut? Maki's fine. I'll see her in the morning!" Nico huffs, before walking away. She pauses, glancing back towards them with a small frown.

"Where would Umi and Honoka have gone?" She asks, and Eli chuckles.

"Try the library. The princess has her own little room inside of it, so its likely Umi and Honoka took her there." Nico nods, turning and continuing on her way to find the other two knights and leaving Nozomi and Eli by themselves. Eli faces Nozomi, her smile still on her face as the other girl takes a step towards her.

"Sorry Elichi, can I borrow you for a moment?" Nozomi asks, and before Eli can respond Nozomi had leant against her, unable to stand on her own two feet. Eli quickly wrapped her arm around the purple haired girl, surprised to find that her body was shaking slightly.

"Are you alright?!" Eli asks, and Nozomi nods.

"I'm fine." She reassures, her hands clinging to Eli's tunic. "Just a bit shocked. I can't believe I was able to hold her off." Eli can only smile, keeping her arm tightly around Nozomi and leading her away from where they stood.

"You did amazing, Nozomi. I'm very proud of you." She says softly, and Nozomi leans into her more, a tiny smile of her own on her lips.

The two of them walk silently down the hallway, Eli's arm staying around Nozomi and Nozomi eventually slipping hers around the captain. The only thing on both of heir minds now is the nice, soft bed that awaits them back in their room


	3. Ointment and Bandages

AN: Fast update! This ones for you, Nicomaki fans :'). Thank you for all reviews, favs, and follows! It means a lot to me;;!

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Maki had been rubbing some ointment onto her fresh wound, stinging as it touched the puffy red area. The cut throbbed as she continued, and Maki sighed annoyed that this had happened. She had wanted to train between work days for the Summer Solstice festival, but she knew she had to give her wound more time to heal before she could do anything. It really was the worst timing to be injured, but this kind of luck just seemed to happen to her sometimes.

Maki recalled the nights events , thinking back to when both Eli and her had been on the floor weaponless. If Nico hadn't shown up when she did, there's no telling what sort of injuries both her and Eli would have. That girl continuously surprised Maki in the best of ways, and she began recalling every detail about her black haired partner.

Nico was honestly something else. Back in April when Maki had met her, she never would have imagined all the quirks and silliness to her personality. She had been so serious and closed off. She was suspicious of everyone and everything, she didn't care about getting along with Maki and she certainly wasn't shy about watching her. Maki knew almost every time the other girls eyes had been on her. Nico had stared and stared at her countless times on the travel home.

The red haired girl closed the ointment container, thinking about all the things Nico and her had experienced together throughout her time at the castle. She thought about the intense spr between them, and the challenging smile Nico had given her. She thought about all their work duties and the conversations they had during them. Nico was quite the chatty person, and she wasn't shy when talking about the things she had seen or the things she had wanted to do. She was very open with Maki, and Maki could only assume it was because Nico had placed her full trust in her.

Trust. Trust was very important for a any kind of relationship. Maki trusted her comrades with her life. She knew they would all assist her should she need it, Rin and Hanayo making it very clear that if she needed to confide into anyone that they would always be around. Maki had never felt the need to tell them any of her worries. All the girls were very busy with work, there wasn't time for heartfelt conversations when they were all on the job.

But with Nico, any conversation alone with her could range from one of Nico's stories, to both of them talking about their dreams. It had happened just the other night, as both of them did their evening patrol. Nico had asked Maki if she had any dreams or goals outside of the castle. Maki couldn't answer, saying she hadn't truly thought about it since she was a kid. Nico had laughed, and told her that if she still felt she wanted to make that dream come true now, it had still counted. Maki pointed out that the country had been dragon free for quite a while, so befriending a dragon was highly unlikely. Nico had laughed for quite a while after that, and Maki still slightly regretted telling her that dream.

Maki laid back on her bed, her arms sprawled out as she stared at the ceiling. What did she dream about? She had everything she wanted at the castle, but part of her still yearned for more. She had great friends, she had an amazing job, she was known for her superb skills. What more could she want?

She's suddenly brought back to the memory of when she left the castle town for the first time. The thrill she felt as her and Santa had galloped farther from the town and deeper into the areas she hadn't explored. She remembered how she had felt the first time she had seen the river, her first time camping outside, the first time she stargazed alone in an open field. The mission that had brought Nico and Nozomi to the castle had been Maki's first big adventure.

That was it! That was her dream! Maki wanted to see more of the world! She smiled a bit to herself, thinking about how great it would be if an opportunity to see more of the kingdom came up. She thought about how much more fun it would be if everyone could join. She thought about how much fun she had had with Nico and Nozomi on the trip back to Otonokizaka. She imagined sharing that excitement with Rin, Hanayo, and everyone else would make the trip even more fun.

When a knock at her door pulls her away from her thoughts, she walks over, answering it with mild surprise.

"Nico? What are you doing here?" Maki asked, quirking an eyebrow to the girl who stood outside her door. She quickly noticed the bandages she held in her hand, and Nico's gaze met hers.

"I brought you something." She said, lifting them up for emphasis. "For your wound."

Instead of just letting Maki take the bandage, Nico walked past the younger girl and straight into her room. Maki frowned as she entered, mumbling a bit to herself.

"Sure, come right in without me offering. I don't mind." She turned to see Nico had put the bandages down on the table, before sitting down on Maki's bed. Maki frowned and opened her mouth, about to tell her to get off until Nico cut her off.

"Want me to help tie the bandage onto your cut?" She asked. "If you keep it bandaged up, it'll be safer from infection." Maki blushed lightly, frowning.

"I already knew that!" She exclaims, before taking a look at her exposed cut. Her parents worked with medicine, it was only natural that Maki too knew how to take care of her wounds.

It only took her quick glance to know that the bandage was definitely a good idea. She sighed a bit, picking up the rolled up fabric and walking over to Nico. She wordlessly sat down next to her, handing her the bandages and gesturing to her arm. Nico grinned a bit before unraveling and wrapping it snug around the wound. When Maki winced, Nico mumbled a small apology, working more gently and ensuring that she took care with her arm.

The whole time, Maki watched Nico. Nico's eyes were soft as she worked, her small hands softly and gently taking care of Maki's wounded arm. It dawns on Maki that she hadn't even thanked Nico for coming to her and Eli's aid and when Nico's eyes glance up to Maki's, the both of them turn their heads away quickly, embarrassed that they had been caught looking at one another.

"Hey, Nico-chan..?" Maki eventually mumbles, feeling Nico's hands moving away from her now safely bandaged arm.

"Hm?" Nico looks at Maki, waiting for her to continue.

"I never did thank you for taking down the intruder." She begins, her cheeks tinting a light pink. "So, uhm, thanks."

Nico laughs lightly, still sitting on Maki's bed with her.

"You don't need to thank me for that, Maki." Nico says. "I would have come to your aid no matter what."

Maki turns her attention back to Nico, her breath catching in her throat and her stomach becoming a bit tight. What was this feeling? Nico only stares at Maki, offering her a smile.

"I mean, we're partners. We want to make sure we're protecting each other." Maki only nods a bit. Partners, right. There was no other reason to it, they worked together so it was natural that they would protect each other in battle. Maki didn't know why she was suddenly feeling a bit disappointed.

"But you know," Nico continues, standing up and walking to the door. "It wouldn't be great if I was too late and found you and Eli in worse condition. So I need to work on being faster, that way none of you get injured next time."

Nico had turned to face her, and was a bit surprised to see a small crooked smile on Maki's features. The other girl stood up, picking up her sheathed sword and walking to the door where Nico waited. She slipped it onto her belt, before grabbing the handle.

"You're right." Maki says. "So you better start training, Nico-chan. I'll be counting on you again next time."

As Maki walks past her, Nico can feel the fluttering sensation of her heart skipping a beat, and she gives a small, playful smirk towards her superior.

"Or maybe you should try to stay out of situations where I have to save your butt." She retorts, quickly following Maki out of her room. Maki laughs a bit.

"Trust me, that won't happen again." Is her reply, and this time Nico laughs.

"If you say so, Maki-chan."

As the two of them walked towards the dining hall, Maki's brought back to the thought of her dream. 'Seeing the world would be fun,' she thought to herself, stealing a glance at her twin tailed companion. 'But it'd be better if I got to enjoy it with you again.'


	4. The Armour Kitchen Duty A Hushed Convo

AN: Hey everyone! Here are three different short scenes rolled into one mini chapter! The first two scenes take place after chapter eight while the final scene was a moment that was cut from the previous chapter. Special shout out to skiretehfox on tumblr for the seriously amazing Captain Eli art they did that inspired the first scene of this chapter! Thank you for all views, reviews and favs, it means a lot ;;u;;!

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"Before we disperse, there's one final task for today." Eli is giving her usual morning run down to the squad, all of them listening intently and ready to begin their work day.

"Nozomi, I need you to head out of the castle to the Sonoda blacksmith. I commissioned for some equipment back at the beginning of the month, so it should be pretty much done by now." Nozomi smiles.

"Yes Captain." She says with a slight grin. "Is this a task I'll be doing by myself?"

"No, I believe it's only fitting that Umi goes along with you. It is her Father's business after all."

"Me?" Umi says with a frown. "Captain, I have my duties to the Princess. I can't possibly leave them to Honoka with her injury."

"You won't be." Eli smiles warmly at Umi. "I'll cover you while you're gone. You both shouldn't be more than an hour. I've had your horses prepared so you'll both be able to leave right away."

"In that case, we shouldn't keep the blacksmith waiting." Nozomi says, standing up excitedly. Rin had been listening intently to the final request Eli made and the thought of heading out of the castle for a little bit intrigued her. She pushed herself up from her stool and looked towards Eli with an excited smile.

"Captain! Permission to go along with Umi and Nozomi?!" She asks in a bubbly voice. Eli laughs lightly, knowing there was no way she could deny the short haired girl.

"If Umi allows it then I don't see why not."

Rin makes direct eye contact with Umi and the navy haired girl sighs knowing exactly how it would play out if she said no.

"You may come along with us, Rin." She says. Rin cheers, bouncing over to Nozomi excitedly and grabbing her hand.

"I get to join Nozomi-chan on her first trip through town~" She says in a sing song voice. Nozomi laughs, reaching up with her free hand and petting Rin lightly on the head. "Can we show her around the market place Umi?!"

"It isn't a trip for fun, Rin." Umi says in her stern voice. Rin pouts briefly before Nozomi gives her a reassuring smile.

"One day we'll explore the market together when we aren't working. Okay Rin-chan?" Nozomi says. Rin's eyes light up and she beams.

"Alright!" She declares happily.

"Come on, let's go see my Father and pick up the Captain's equipment. Then we can get to the rest of our daily tasks. Understood?" Umi says to the two of them.

Both Rin and Nozomi chorus an agreement, and the three of them depart from the breakfast table to head to the front courtyard where the horses would be waiting. They arrived fairly quickly and two horses were geared up, their reins attached to a small cart. Both Umi and Rin eyed it before glancing over to Nozomi.

"What is it we're picking up, Nozomi?" Rin asks, watching as she too stared at it confused.

"I believe its armour? At least, it's the chest plate. I only know that much." She responds, offering an apologetic smile.

"If it's just a chest plate, my Father would have had that done weeks ago." Umi hums a bit. "It's probably a full suit if it took this long and we need the whole cart for it."

"Eh? What would the Captain need with another suit of armour?" Rin asks.

"We'll have to find out." Nozomi answers with a grin.

The trio soon climb into the cart, making their way out of the gates and into the town. Along the ride Rin pointed excitedly towards different buildings and talked about the many different shops and people who lived in their small castle town. Nozomi listened intently to Rin's stories and Umi smiled to herself, correcting Rin whenever she got a fact wrong and occasionally adding small stories about certain buildings Rin pointed out.

The three of them are soon out front of the Umi's home. They climb out of the cart and Umi sighs contently, already relaxing from the homey atmosphere that little workshop gave off. She walks towards the large door and enters the house with Rin and Nozomi following closely behind her.

The outside of the building may have looked like any other villagers house, but on the inside everything was a completely different experience. Hanging from the walls were various weapons that had been forged by the blacksmith. Different types of swords and maces decorated the walls as well as filling different cupboards scattered around the ground floor. There was a long space of nothing in the center of the room, making a clear path from the front door to the workplace. There were three different anvils set up only feet away from the large fireplace, and hammering on one of the anvils was a very tall muscular man who had his back to them. Nozomi took her time to take in everything about the place as Umi shouted a loud greeting.

"Good morning, Father!"

At the sound of the voice, the burly man halts his hammering. He turns his head towards the entrance to reveal a neatly trimmed beard and dark amber eyes that resembled his daughters all too well. A smile quickly appears on his face at the sight of his daughter and he announces his own greeting back to her.

"Umi!" His voice booms loudly. "Welcome home!" He puts his hammer down, moving away from his workspace to greet his daughter. Umi smiled warmly to her Father and accepted his short greeting hug.

"Thank you, Father. I'm sorry I can't stay for an actual visit. I'm here on castle duties." His eyes flash with understanding as he glances over to Nozomi and Rin who stood off to the side with small smiles.

"You're all here for the Captain's commissions then?" Umi nods.

"Yes. We're here to pick up everything she ordered at the beginning of the month."

"Here, come with me. I'll need your assistance for this one." Umi nods, following him into his work area. Both Rin and Nozomi watch as the two of them hoist up a crate the size of another human being. They share a skeptical look as they watch the two of them work together to carry the giant sealed box from the back of the workshop to the front.

"Just what did the Captain order?!" Rin practically shouts. Umi's Father chuckles deeply, getting a better hold on his side of the large crate.

"We had been discussing back and forth about a new set of armour she had wanted to commission. The Princess helped her design it and I set to work completing it. It was quite a change from the armour I normally forge, but it came out wonderfully. That's about it." There's a small drop of sweat trailing down his face and Umi can only hum in concern.

"It feels awful heavy for one set of armour." Umi frowns, deciding not to question it more before looking over to the other two. "Let's not waste any more time then. Rin, you take the other side from my Father. Nozomi, please hold the door open for us while we take these out to the cart."

The both of them nodded and Rin hopped over to the burly man, taking his side from him. Her eyes widened at the heavy weight of the crate and she made eye contact with Umi, who could only give a half-hearted shrug. Nozomi moved to push the door open, keeping it opened widely as Umi and Rin manoeuvred out of the shop and to the cart that now waited for them. They set it down gently in the back and slid it so it sat nicely against the wall of the cart.

"Thank you, Father." Umi smiles at her dad and he nods, reaching out and patting her shoulder.

"Not a problem. Work hard, Umi." Umi only nodded before she walked over to the cart. Both Nozomi and Rin said good bye to her Father and they climbed into the back.

The trip back home was short as Rin went on about the heaviness of what was in that crate. Nozomi eyed it curiously, commenting that a crate the size of another person was pretty large for only a single chest plate. Umi pointed out they would learn soon when Eli would reveal to them all exactly the armour she commissioned from her family's business so their curiosity wouldn't be around for much longer.

Once they arrived back at the castle, Rin hopped out of the back and announced she would go find Eli. That left both Nozomi and Umi to carry the crate inside. The two of them sighed as the energetic girl sprinted off before making the effort to get the heavy package off the card and into the castle.

By the time Rin returned with Eli not far behind her, Umi and Nozomi leant against the crate that now rested in the center of the courtroom. Eli smiled in light amusement as the both of them stood alert as her and Rin walked towards them.

"Welcome back." She greeted. "Were you two just going to drag the crate through the courtroom?"

"Originally we were going to head to the Queen's downstairs study." Umi began. "But there was an accident in the corridor that we didn't want to interrupt, so we decided to make a detour through the courtroom."

"It wasn't a very good detour." Nozomi adds, smiling apologetically at Eli. "But we have your new armour."

"Thank you, Umi. Nozomi." Eli says. "But everything in here isn't just for me." An unfamiliar look is on Eli's face as her eyes reflect a triumphant glint and a proud smile on her face. The face of someone who got away with doing something sneaky.

"It isn't..?" Umi asks hesitantly. Eli unsheathes her sword, walking over to the crate and slipping it under the lid. With very little effort the top popped off, revealing the neatly packaged contents.

"While I did commission for a new set of armour, that wasn't the only thing I had ordered." Nozomi and Rin share a glance and Eli bends down, rummaging through the crates contents and pulling out a bright silver chest plate with an incredibly fancy design. She smiled to herself before looking to Nozomi.

"A little birdie told me that on the ninth it was someone's birthday." Umi and Rin share a confused stare, knowing that it wasn't either of theirs. They glance to Nozomi, whose eyes widen as Eli's gaze falls directly onto her. "It's a bit late, but we didn't think you would mind." Eli winks and Nozomi gapes a bit as her stare lingers on the shiny chest plate in Eli's arms.

"That's-" Nozomi is speechless as she steps closer, her eyes going from the armour back up to Eli's face. "That's for me?"

"It's for you." Eli confirms, holding it out to her. Her smile is warm as a faint blush tints her cheeks "Happy belated birthday, Nozomi."

Umi and Rin's confused stares melt into excited smiles as Nozomi covers her mouth. Her attempt to hide her happy grin is useless as she takes the few steps closer to Eli and admires the hand crafted armour that she held. She hesitantly places her hand on it, letting her fingers run over the cool metal. She takes the metal plate from Eli and looks over to Rin and Umi with excitement.

"I have armour!" She says, her voice sounding just like a little kid who had been gifted the most incredible present known to man. Umi chuckles softly and Rin grins, Nozomi's excitement rubbing off on her. Eli's face heats up more and she has to glance away as the tips of her ears turn bright red. This was one of the happiest moments she had seen with Nozomi and if she knew the reaction would be like this, she would have made sure Nico was here to see it.

Nozomi turns back to Eli and without thinking it through; she places the plate down on the ground and leaps on the unsuspecting Captain. Eli was so caught off guard by the sudden hug that she stumbled backwards, the two of them falling ungracefully into the half empty crate. Nozomi laughed loudly as she hugged herself tighter to the blonde, who was now caught between the rest of the crates contents and Nozomi.

"N-Nozomi!" Eli wants to scold her but the laughter that came from her was all too contagious and she wraped her arms around Nozomi, laughing along with her.

Their laughter rang through the courtroom and both Umi and Rin smile to each other. They silently exit as Nozomi and Eli's laughter continues, leaving the two of them to enjoy the blissful moment with one another.

* * *

"Gooood morning everybody!" Honoka shouts excitedly, walking with a happy step towards the breakfast table.

Now that the festival was over everyone was back to their regular work duties, except for her. Eli insisted that she could take as long as she needed to rest and let her arm heal properly but the ginger haired girl was confidant she would be able to be of some help during the day. With that in mind, Eli assigned her to the only real duty she could think of: spending time with the Princess.

Honoka had been enjoying every moment of it so far. The last couple days she learnt a bit about how the sewing process worked, she watched Kotori write a thank you notice to the citizens for coming out to the castle events, and she even got to participate a bit in her waltz lesson (but when it turned out Honoka wasn't too much of a good partner with only one arm she switched places with Umi and watched from the sides with Hanayo.)

She was beginning to become a bit irritated. Spending time with Kotori was fun, but she wanted to contribute and help her friends and her princess with their daily tasks. So when she got up this morning, she looked over her arm and decided that today she would ask the captain for new tasks. She knew it was a long shot but she was determined to do something besides staying out of the way today.

"Good morning Honoka-chan!" Rin beams at her friend. "How's your arm?"

"It's great! I can move it and totally feel no pain!" To emphasize her point, Honoka attempted to move her arm. Realizing the sling had kept it tightly in place, she frowned. "Well, I could if the sling was off." She turns her face excitedly to Umi and before she can even ask her question, Umi cuts her off.

"Absolutely not."

"Eh?! But I didn't even ask you anything yet Umi-chan!" Honoka pouts, taking her seat at the table. "Please?! Doing nothing was fun at first but I wanna get back to work."

The whole table is quiet and Umi dramatically stands from her seat, ripping her glove off and pressing her hand against Honoka's forehead. Honoka gasps surprised as Umi's hand stays pressed firmly against her. Everyone at the table waits in silence for Umi's verdict as Honoka stares up confused at the blue haired girls face.

"Nothing. Honoka isn't even burning up. She's completely healthy." She declares to the table, removing her hand off of Honoka's forehead and peering down at her. "Honoka are you sure you don't need more sleep? You're never eager to work." Honoka puffs her cheeks out, clearly offended by the completely true statement Umi had said.

"There are times when I want to work!" She shouts in defence, using her good arm to push Umi away. She turns her body away from her and tries her best to tuck her good arm away to make it look like her arms would be crossed. Her attempt is useless as she ends up hurting her broken arm and with a small grunt of pain; she gives up and lets the arm fall to her side dejectedly.

After a small silence, Maki speaks up.

"Well, she isn't lying. We'd all be blind if we didn't notice how Honoka enjoys the little things in her jobs."

"I agree." Eli says with a nod. "As rare as it is, there have been times where Honoka has been more eager to work than most. But your arm is still in the early stages of its healing process. I don't think it's a good idea if you tried to do your usual everyday tasks on your own."

"Then how about I join her?" Everyone turns surprised to see Kotori had silently made her way over to them. She has an angelic smile and Honoka's eyes sparkle with excitement.

"Kotori-chan, you want to work with me?!" She asks excitedly.

"Yeah! It's Thursday. On Thursday's you're jobs are usually just the after dinner patrol and whatever other miscellaneous task the Captain has assigned you." Kotori looks to Eli with her smile and tilts her head. "Do you have a task Honoka and I could do today, Captain?"

Eli thinks about the jobs for the day before making eye contact with Kotori. It had been her biggest mistake as her warm eyes pleaded her silently and Eli had to look away as she caved into the princess' request.

"The kitchen staff has recently made changes to the setup of the castle's pantry. There's a lot of chaos as the staff tries to get meals cooking on time and organize everything the way they'd like it. I was originally going to have Nozomi head down after lunch, but if you really are sure you want to assist Honoka then I leave this task to you both."

"I object to this idea." Umi says sternly, crossing her arms and looking at Kotori. "Princess, the kitchen is a busy area and you and Honoka might only be in the way of the cooks."

"If you're that worried, why don't you join us then Umi-chan~?" Kotori asks, her smile quickly becoming a grin. The navy haired knight paused for a moment and sighed, shaking her head.

"Alright. Captain, I'll be assisting the Princess and Honoka today before doing my regular duties." Eli only nods at her, smiling lightly as Kotori made her way to both Honoka and Umi.

After eating their breakfast, the three of them said their good byes to the squad and Honoka lead the way towards the kitchen. Umi and Kotori share a glance, having their own silent conversation with each other through their expressions. Umi's eyebrows furrow and Kotori offers an apologetic smile. She leans a bit closer to her knight, whispering in a quiet voice.

"She was miserable yesterday. I thought this might cheer her up. We'll be there to help her and it's all just organizing things in the kitchen. It shouldn't be too hard!" Umi doesn't say a word as she leans away, not wanting to bring down the princess' spirits with a negative comment.

Kotori had thought it would be very simple work, but she couldn't have been more wrong.

The kitchen really was an absolute mess. Stacks upon stacks of cooking utensils were piled on the counter tops and the food storage closet was completely bare as all the food had been scattered and piled up around the kitchen. It was absolute chaos and the head cook Nagayama Minami apologized continuously to Kotori, Honoka and Umi.

"T-The mess has gotten a bit out of hand. We only wanted to rearrange the spices and how the food was stored but it quickly evolved into completely changing out whole set up." She said exasperatedly. "We only have an hour before we need to start the preparations for today's lunch but at this rate we might have to start it later and have a late dinner."

"This shouldn't be a problem at all!" Honoka says as she scans over everything. She walked over to a large sack of flour, patting it with her good arm. "Do you have any plans for the new set up?"

The blonde haired girl nodded, grabbing a folded piece of paper from her apron pocket. Kotori held her hand out and took a look over it all, nodding as she understood just exactly what the cooks had wanted to do.

"I think we should be done in about an hour." She says with confidence, holding the paper out to Umi. The blue haired girl scans over it herself before nodding and smiling at the chef.

"Alright, that seems simple enough. I'm assuming you want to start moving the top shelf things into the pantry first, correct?" She asks.

"Ah, yes! That would be the easiest-"

"HONOKA-CHAN!" Kotori's voice alarms both Umi and Minami as they look worriedly over to the ginger haired girl, who had begun attempting to drag the large sack of flour back towards the pantry. She looks up in slight alarm to Kotori before grinning sheepishly.

"Honoka-chan you should be paying attention to the instructions from the cook!" Kotori scolds and Honoka reluctantly lets go of the flour bag. "We're moving the items for the top shelf in first!"

"Ehh? But I can't reach the top shelf". Honoka says with a pout, looking down at the flour bags. Her pout isn't there long before she bounces back up, looking at the confused chef excitedly.

"Well, I can always just bring everything into the pantry while Umi puts it away, right?!"

"Yes yes, you can do that Honoka. Just listen while we discuss what will go in first." Umi says pleadingly. "I know you're excited to get to work but we need to do it properly and you need to be careful of your arm."

"Okay Umi-chan!" Honoka agrees happily, not caring that she got in trouble. Her thoughts only lingered on doing the work with Umi and Kotori and she didn't mind waiting a bit longer.

After a small discussion of how the organization of the pantry would go, the three set to work. Honoka was so excited she had gotten a bit careless. She was determined to show both Kotori and Umi she could do simple tasks and be useful, and in the beginning it had been pretty easy for her. Everything she grabbed was light and easy and sometimes she even got to assist Kotori in lifting a heavier item. Her excitement began to take over as she enthusiastically began to dash back and forth from the pantry to the other items in the kitchen carelessly

It was at that point that Kotori went from assisting Honoka with moving the food to guiding her away from tables and making sure she didn't trip over her own feet. Honoka was oblivious to the danger she had been putting herself and her arm in when she sped by the fire with a hot cauldron sitting atop it. She had accidentally nudged one of the spikes that kept the hot pot over the fire and in swung dangerously over the flames. With quick thinking Kotori grabbed the large heat protecting gloves and steadied it carefully over the flames. She pulled away, sighing relieved that no mess had happened until the sound of a crate smashing on the floor startled her. The ash haired girl turned around quickly to find that another cook had accidentally knocked something down from across where Honoka was. She sighed for a second time before quickly scurrying to the pantry.

"Umi-chan, why don't you help me and Honoka-chan with the heavier things now?" Kotori hopes that Umi's great instincts pick up the plea to help her keep Honoka safe in her voice.

Umi stares towards Kotori before nodding, not taking long to catch on to Kotori's true request.

"Of course, Princess."

When the two of them exited the pantry their eyes widened in horror as Honoka had one of the cooks assist her in getting a sack of rice lifted. Honoka leant forward, her hand tightly gripping the top of the bag and her back supporting most of the weight. She grinned, turning herself and saying thanks to the person who helped her. The sack of rice on her back slid into the stacked food behind her and Umi had to sprint from her spot at the pantry to the counter top in order to prevent it all from toppling straight to the floor.

"Honoka-chan! You nearly knocked over all the things on this counter!" Kotori says as she approaches her with a frown.

"Eh?! AH! Sorry Umi-chan!" Honoka apologizes. Umi replies with a simple grunt, pushing everything carefully back onto the counter.

As she turned to give Honoka a piece of her mind, Umi quickly realized Honoka had moved forward and was heading directly towards the pantry. She moved with slow steps, completely unaware of how close she was walking between different cooks and counters stacked with cooking utensils. Umi and Kotori moved quickly, blocking cooks who hadn't seen Honoka heading towards them and stealthily shoving all obstacles out of Honoka's way so she wouldn't trip or knock anything over.

Once Honoka was there, she dropped the rice with a satisfied grunt. She turned around to announce she had done it but was surprised to find a heavy breathing Kotori and Umi just outside the pantry. She tilted her head in confusion, rubbing the back of her neck before voicing her question.

"Are you two okay?"

Kotori lets out a nervous laugh, only nodding.

"O-Of course Honoka-chan!"

"Hmmm," Honoka examined the both of them carefully before shrugging, a smile on her face. "Well, if you say so! Let's hurry and get the rest of the heavy stuff put away now!" Honoka moved forward with an exited step and Umi and Kotori sigh quietly to themselves.

The rest of the kitchen work was completed later than predicted, but Honoka was still pleased. The cooks thanked the trio as they left and Honoka walked down the halls a few paces ahead of the other two, humming happily to herself.

"If we didn't have to monitor Honoka that whole time, we may have gotten it all done in time." Umi mumbles to Kotori. Kotori sighs lightly, turning to Umi and giving her a small smile.

"That's true." She begins, linking her arm with Umi's slowly. "But she's happy, and that makes me happy too. What about you, Umi-chan?" Kotori looks to her partner and watches the smile grow on Umi's face as she stared at their ginger haired companion.

"It truly does make me happy as well, Kotori." She says with fondness as Honoka turns around, smiling brightly to the two of them.

* * *

"Captain, you were really spooked before that final match." Mikoto greets Hitomi rather rudely and Hitomi doesn't focus on her as she walks directly past her. Mikoto follows closely, continuing to speak. "Were you that thrown off by what you did to that Kousaka knight?"

"Of course not! No. I've done worse. Breaking a girls arm wouldn't sway me even slightly." Hitomi responded, stopping and looking around to make sure it was only the two of them. "No, it was after that when those knights stepped in."

"The blonde? That was the captain. The blue haired one was the archery champion from the day before; I'm told she's the other right hand knight to the Captain. I don't know anything about that other broad who blocked you though." Mikoto shrugged and Hitomi's whipped her head around, glaring at her subordinate.

"It was HER." Mikoto furrows her eyebrows in confusion.

"Her? Wait-" Her eyes widen in realization and she turns her head back into the ring in hopes that she might be able to see the purple haired girl who blocked Hitomi's sword before the final match. "You can't possibly mean..." Her voice trails off and Hitomi hums.

"That's exactly who I mean."

"Impossible." Mikoto says, shaking her head as if trying to convince herself that her captain was wrong. "A-Rise has been searching all over Akiba for her. There's no possible way that she could have gotten out here and become a part of their knights in the few months she's been gone."

"Well she has and it looks like A-Rise is in for a long search for nothing since she isn't in Akiba anymore." Mikoto turns to Hitomi, locking their eyes.

"Are you positive, Captain?" She asks lowly. "Are you absolutely positive that was her out there?"

"Of course I am. I have no doubts about it. I'd know those green eyes anywhere." The sound of the crowd moving to leave the stands becomes loud and Hitomi begins to walk out of the arena. Mikoto follows her quickly with wide eyes.

"But if she's here, then does that mean...?" Mikoto lets her voice trail off again and Hitomi nods.

"Yes." Hitomi answers the unsaid question. "It means there's a good chance that Captain Yazawa is here too."


	5. Proper Sword Skills with Maki and Rin

"Alright Kayo-chin, try holding the sword more like this!"

The sunny days in the Otonokizaka kingdom were plentiful and Rin and Hanayo were enjoying the warm and bright weather together, as they usually did on their days off. Today was a bit different for the childhood friends as Hanayo had approached Rin with a serious question that morning.

"Do you think you could teach me how to use a sword?"

Rin had known Hanayo for as long as she could remember and out of all the things her rice loving friend had said to her, this simple question was the one that caught her off guard. Rin didn't need to ask before Hanayo explained that since the attack, she had been having worrying thoughts just before bed and it was starting to cause her to become restless. Hanayo had no idea how to defend herself and if an attacker happened to cross paths with her, she feared the worst might happen to her.

Rin knew she could never say no to her best friend and her reply was an instant yes. The problem was Rin didn't know the first thing about how to teach another person to sword fight. Using a sword just came naturally to her, she couldn't even begin to form an idea of how to explain the forms or where to start. Hanayo had requested it just be a secret between the two of them since she didn't want to many people to know of her fear that stemmed from the intruders in the castle. Rin completely understood, she wouldn't want others worrying about whether she was going to be okay if another attack happened either.

The two of them now stood outside the training hut, Rin picking out the perfect test sword for her friend and examining the way Hanayo held it. Rin had always learnt better when she tried to do things for herself and she figured it might be a great way for Hanayo to learn the basics as well.

"L-Like this Rin-chan?" Hanayo asks, adjusting her hands to match how Rin held her sword. Rin nodded, a big grin forming on her face.

"That's right! Great job Kayo-chin!" Hanayo smiled shyly at Rin and looked to the sword she held. The two stayed quiet as Hanayo waited for further instruction, but Rin's mind was drawing a blank.

Hanayo was a soft spoken girl and she always had been. The only real tools she liked to use involved farm equipment and a sword was definitely no shovel. She could see Hanayo nervously waiting for Rin's next instruction, continuing to hold the sword with both of her hands as Rin had showed her. But where should she go from here? Should she get Hanayo to practice some forms? Should she show Hanayo how to block an attack? Should Hanayo do a few test swings to get a feel of the sword? There were so many options, Rin wasn't exactly sure where to start. Sensing her friends inner turmoil, Hanayo gives the ginger haired girl an apologetic smile.

"U-uhm, Rin-chan, it's okay if you can't teach me." She says quietly. "I know you aren't the best teacher and I don't mind if we go at a slow pace, but if you're uncomfortable-"

"No! That's not it!" Rin cuts off her friend, looking at her with a determined gaze. "I want to teach you! I don't want you to be afraid of get injured or worse if another attack on the castle happens. I want to help you learn how to defend yourself! But-" She frowns, crossing her arms and thinking. "I'm just not sure where to start! There's so many things, even in the baby steps stage I just don't know where we should begin."

"Do you remember where you started when you first started as a knight?" Hanayo asks, a small smile on her face as she watched Rin take this task more seriously than anything else.

"Erm… where did we begin…?" Rin's mind wanders back to her early days and she struggles to remember what had happened on her first training day.

"If I remember right, we didn't start using swords until we proved we had the physical capabilities that all Otonokizaka knights need."

Both Rin and Hanayo jump, looking over to where a new voice came in. They were pleasantly surprised to see Maki standing there, her hands in her pockets and looking at the two of them curiously. Rin laughs a bit as a memory of her outrunning everyone around the castle flashes in her mind.

"You have an amazing memory, Maki-chan!" Rin says with excitement. "I totally forgot the captain at that time made us do all those workouts."

"You would have, you had a hard time passing because you were so lazy until it came to the running tasks." Maki doesn't hide her smug little smile before voicing a question to the two of them. "What are you two doing?"

Rin looks at Hanayo with wide eyes and Hanayo nods, letting her know it's okay to reveal the truth. Rin beams and looks back to Maki with bright eyes.

"I'm teaching Kayo-chin how to use a sword!" She announces happily. Maki raises her eyebrow as she lets her gaze fall onto Hanayo, who shyly lowered the sword.

"I-I asked Rin to teach me." She admits. "Ever since the attack on the castle I've been a bit paranoid a-and I don't want to end up in a situation I can't get out of."

Maki understood exactly how Hanayo had felt. Nozomi had been in a similar state and if it weren't for Eli teaching her the basics, things would have played out a lot differently that night.

"That's reasonable." She says, stepping closer to the two of them. "But the attack happened weeks ago. Have you been paranoid ever since?"

The thought didn't even hit Rin and she looks wide eyed and concerned at Hanayo, who only lowered her head to try and hide her embarrassed expression. Rin gasps a bit and puts her sword away, stepping closer to Hanayo and turning the brown haired girl to her.

"Kayo-chin, is what Maki-chan said true!? You told me it only happened a few times!"

"W-well, it did!" Hanayo tries to defend herself but knows there isn't any use. She averts her eyes from Rin's and mumbles. "I-I didn't want to worry any of you."

"Hanayo, we're friends." Maki says softly, stepping over and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Rin and I will always be a little bit worried about you. Nothing can change that."

The ginger haired girl nods her head vigorously in agreement, letting go of Hanayo and holding her hands up in determined fists.

"That's right! If you get scared at night, you can always come sleepover in my room or even come visit until you're tired enough! I'll stay up with you for as long as it takes until you feel comfortable again!" Her voice is almost a shout and Maki nods, agreeing with Rin's statement.

"The same goes with me." She adds. "We'll always be here if you need us."

Hanayo can't stop her lips from curving upward and she lets out small giggle, placing the sword gently on the ground and pulling her two friends into a hug. Rin laughs enthusiastically, snuggling closer to the two of them as Maki cries out surprised from the affectionate gesture. The hug lasts only a few seconds before Hanayo pulls away, wiping away a stray happy tear from her cheek.

"I couldn't ask for anything more. Thank you both so much." She says with a wide smile.

"Anytime Kayo-chin!" Rin laughs. "Does this mean you're gunna help us Maki-chan?!"

"Of course I am. Hanayo's not going to learn much with just you teaching her." Rin laughs sheepishly at Maki's true statement and scratches the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"So what did Rin teach you already?" Maki asks.

"W-We only just started." Hanayo smiles at her friend, bending down and picking up the sword and demonstrating how Rin showed her how to hold it. "I can hold the sword perfectly!"

The corner of Maki's lip twitches upward and she crosses her arms, looking over Hanayo.

"It's not bad, but that's not the kind of pose you want if you're trying to defend yourself." Maki says, stepping over to her. "If you're going to try to protect yourself, you want to be prepared to block a hit from somebody, not be prepared to hit them."

Maki adjusts the way Hanayo stands, ignoring the tiny murmur of apology from the brown haired girl and letting go when she finished her handiwork. She examined her friend again and nodded in approval of the small changes she made to Hanayo's pose.

"If you want to protect yourself, you have to be prepared for any oncoming hits and you'll want to brace yourself as best as you can." She explains, gesturing to her legs. "Keep your feet planted as firmly to the ground as possible, this way if there's a lot of force behind the hits you won't get knocked over and lose the advantage."

Hanayo nods in understanding, bracing her feet onto the ground and holding onto her sword tighter. When Maki pulls her sword from its sheath, Hanayo's eye widen and her face pales. Rin's eyes widen and she lifts her hands up, waving them a bit frantically.

"Wait, Maki-chan! Kayo-chin can't fight, she doesn't know how!" She says quickly.

"I'm not going to spar with Hanayo." Maki reassures as she adjusts her hold on her blade "One of us needs to show her where to block when a sword is coming towards her from different angles. The only way she'll learn how to defend herself is if she practices it."

Realization hits both Hanayo and Rin and the two smile in relief.

"Hanayo, I'm going to tap my sword slowly against yours, but as we go along I'll get faster. If it gets too overwhelming let me know, okay?" The brunette nods at Maki's instructions and begins to brace herself for the oncoming hits. "Rin, you've got keen eyes and if Hanayo's form changes, call it out."

"Got it~!" Rin grins, keeping her eyes glued to Hanayo.

Maki starts off very slow, only lightly tapping onto Hanayo's blade and demonstrating how she would be striking her. Once Hanayo began to get used to the small taps Maki increased her speed a tiny bit, moving at a below average pace and making sure Hanayo stayed focused on her and her movements. Rin watched with careful eyes, alert and ready to call out like Maki had requested her to.

Another strike from Maki clashes against Hanayo's sword rather loudly, startling the brunette and causing her to drop the weapon. Maki instantly pulls her sword away and Rin bounds over, bending down and picking up the sword.

"I-I'm sorry Maki-chan!" Hanayo apologizes quickly. "T-The loud noise surprised me, I didn't think it would be that loud when we were being careful."

"Don't worry about it Hanayo, you did great." The red haired girl reassures. "You stayed in the right form the whole time, which is important. Eventually with enough practice you're going to able to stop any kind of hit without fear."

"That's right Kayo-chin!" the ginger haired girl announces, holding the sword out. "The more you practice, the easier it will be for you. Do you want to try blocking hits from me now?"

Hanayo looks hesitantly between Maki and Rin as she contemplates her answer. She smiles shyly as she takes the sword from Rin, holding it firmly in her grasp and nodding.

"I-I'd love to Rin-chan! But please remember to be gentle." Rin laughs and nods, pulling her sword out and getting herself ready.

Rin starts off just as slowly as Maki had, making sure each swing she made was done in careful light taps. Once she noticed Hanayo began to get more confidant with her blocks and she increased her speed, striking carefully and making sure that Hanayo could see everywhere she would be hitting from. Maki watched her two friends with a hint of pride, unable to hide her smile when Hanayo's eyes lit up as she blocked each hit from their ginger haired friend.

After an hour of Maki and Rin swapping and hitting Hanayo's sword, the chubbier girl was confidant in the little skills she had learnt from the two of them. Her breathing was laboured and her eyes had a tired glint to them and it was then that Maki decided the three of them should call it quits for the day and continue when it was more convenient for them to practice again.

"Thank you both again for helping me. I think I learnt a lot today." Hanayo said to her friends after the equipment was put away and they began to walk towards the castle.

"Anytime Kayo-chin!" Rin replied, putting her arms around Hanayo and Maki's shoulders as they walked closer to the castle. "It was a lot of fun, and the three of us got to hangout too! We haven't gotten to do that in forever!"

"Huh.. you're right." Maki says, remembering the last time just the three of them had done something together. "It was pretty fun too." She smiles lightly, not caring about Rin's arm being draped around her shoulders as they walked.

"It kinda was." Hanayo agrees with a giggle. "I look forward to my next lesson if I get to have it with you two."

Both Maki and Rin turn their heads towards their friend. Rin's smile widened and Maki lifted a hand to twirl a bit of her hair.

"We can always work it into our schedules and make sure we get this time together again soon." Maki says. "This way Hanayo doesn't fall behind in her training and we get to spend this time with each other."

"Oh! Good thinking Maki-chan!" Rin says enthusiastically. "Lets do it again tomorrow!"

"Rin-chan, we all work tomorrow." Hanayo reminds her.

"Right! Okay, the next day!"

"Rin, we work that day too." Maki says in a flat tone. "When is your next day off?"

"Next week." Rin grumbles, sticking her lower lip out and frowning. "I just want to do it sooner!"

Hanayo laughs lightly, leaning into her friend and contemplating what the three could do to have practice time sooner.

"We can always use our free time after dinner sometime this week and go over the things I learnt today?" She proposes, looking curiously at the two of them. Rin swerves her head to Maki, her eyes glowing excitedly. She didn't need to voice her opinion on the matter and Maki could only sigh, smiling at her friends and nodding.

"Sounds good to me. I'm on after dinner patrol tomorrow though, so lets plan it for the day after."

"YES!" Rin cheers, laughing and hugging her friends closer. "It's gunna be a blast!"

The trio laugh to themselves as they walk back into the castle. Maki slips herself away from the two of them, promising to see them at dinner and heading off to go get her partner from gate duty. Rin and Hanayo wave goodbye and the two of them decide to spend the rest of the day at the library to spend some quality time reading stories with each other in the company of the princess.


	6. Time Goes By

AN:Formal apology to Eli Ayase I'm sorry for putting you through this, I promise good things will come to you soon.

Hey everyone! I tried something different for this chapter and wrote it in second person. I felt it was the best way to write this kind of thing. A huge thank you to pasdechat on tumblr for being my beta reader again :')! (and for sharing all the sad head canons that made their way into this ;) ) Thank you for reading all the comments, reviews and for reading ;;u;;!

* * *

Your name is Ayase Eli. You are the Captain of the Otonokizaka castle knights and today you had to say goodbye to the love of your life.

"It's fine." You tell yourself as you enter the castle gates, letting go of Nico's hand and walking inside the castle on your own.

"It's going to be okay." You repeat to yourself as Hanayo finds you, telling you the Queen is requesting to see you.

"Nozomi will be back in no time at all." You quietly remind yourself as you relive the experience over and over while you relay each and every detail of what happened to her Majesty.

The Queen asks you if you would like to spend some time to yourself. You contemplate the suggestion before shaking your head. You hold back a bitter laugh as you repeat the words Captain Kira had said to you maybe an hour and a half earlier.

"I'll be fine. These things happen and life goes on." You say quietly. "Besides, Nozomi wouldn't want me skipping out on my duties."

The Queen says nothing as you excuse yourself, deciding to continue with your daily duties and keep yourself distracted from your straying thoughts.

* * *

Three days without Nozomi go by and you're not doing so well. You're kept awake in the long hours of the night by the crackling fire and the lingering presence of Nozomi. She may not have been there but she certainly left her own impact on the room the two of you shared.

The armour you had commissioned for her birthday rests gently against your old chest plate on the dresser beside the door; her sword leans against the bedside table on the side where she slept, the various other clothes she owned were neatly folded and laid inside the exact dresser that the armour was displayed on. Even when you tuck yourself into your bed when night falls, you feel yourself thinking that it isn't the same without Nozomi's comforting warmth waiting for you as she slip beneath the covers. It's difficult to fall asleep when the room feels so quiet without the soft sounds of Nozomi breathing beside you, even the crackling of the fire unable to fill the silence.

Now the room is nothing but cold and stiff, the untouched blankets and various personal touches only serving to remind you of the absence in your heart. The room is feels suffocating and lifeless without her there to ease your mind. You silently wonder if this was what it was like before Nozomi had arrived as well.

When you finally managed to drift off to sleep, sometimes you could even faintly catch the hint of a scent that always seemed to cling to Nozomi. It was both a blessing and a curse on those late nights when all you wanted was to see her face.

* * *

By the time a week and a half goes by, you have gone completely numb. You've reverted back to the way you had been before she came into your life, before she impacted you in the way she had. You could tell that your squad worried for you, but you couldn't do anything but push them away. You weren't ready to talk. You weren't ready to discuss how you felt. You could barely confront these feelings yourself, you knew if one of your friends tried to talk it through with you that you would be a bigger mess than the day she had left.

You're always avoiding the hallway that leads to the garden. You know this is bad and your squad may have noticed, but nobody says a word to you (though you haven't exactly stopped to talk with them for quite a while either). They don't really blame you considering it was Nozomi's special spot. In a way it was yours too. The two of you had shared many things in that very garden and being near it didn't exactly help you when you were becoming depressed.

Your free time has become your quiet training time again and you channel all your emotions into each slash of your sword, every step of your feet, each graceful spin you make. You can feel the watchful eyes of someone who has come to check up on you but you refuse to acknowledge them, staying lost in your own little world and focusing on your movements.

One evening you end up sitting to rest against one of the practice dummies and the next thing you know you're being woken in the early morning by a very concerned Umi. You're body is stiff but you manage to get up on your own, stretching out your arms and legs and letting out a satisfied hum when your back cracks just the right way. You brush off Umi's concern, assuring her that it was an accident and nothing like this would happen again. Umi says nothing as she watches you walk away from her with an unconvinced frown.

* * *

Two and a half weeks since her departure and you've been found sleeping in many other places that aren't your bedroom. Rin reports finding you half asleep in the stable, a bunch of hay in your arms as you rested against Kuro's stall. Nobody mentions that the tall horse seemed to enjoy lipping at your messy ponytail or the fact that there were pieces of straw stuck to your tunic in many unexpected places.

Not long after that you were found in the library for the fourth time by Hanayo, your face pressed against an unfinished letter you had been writing to Alisa. The ink had still been fairly wet on the paper when sleep had found you and a few of the words were now stuck to your cheek. You quickly cover it as you hastily make your way out of the large room to wash your face.

By the time you're ready for work your friends are waiting for you with worried frowns on their faces. You say nothing as they ask you for a moment and lead you to the private room Kotori has inside the library. Honoka's arm has completely healed by now and both her and Umi move the bookcase aside as she unlocks the door, pushing it open and allowing you to walk in first.

One by one each of you take your seats. Nobody encourages you to speak and the eight of you sit in an uncomfortable silence as you wait for their intervention to begin.

"Captain, you haven't been sleeping well." It's Umi who eventually speaks. "You're going to get sick if you overwork yourself and continue to fall asleep in all the spots you have been."

"I'm fine." You try to assure them. "Those were all just accidents."

"Right. Accidents." Nico mutters to herself, avoiding looking at you. You don't really blame her, you know how pathetic you look trying to defend yourself.

"Are you having trouble sleeping, Captain?" Kotori asks you, staring with those big pleading eyes. You can completely understand why Umi and Honoka are so weak to her gaze.

"Yes." You admit, your voice full of shame. "Yes I am. It's nothing to be overly concerned about."

"It is when you fall asleep in the stables, Captain." Maki points out to you. You have no retort considering it is a very fair point.

"Alright. Maybe it is a bit out of hand." You begin reasoning. "It's just... hard."

You can feel that small bit of relief when you finally open up just that little bit to the small group and you see their eyes soften as they listen to the beginning of your confession. They don't pressure you to speak and they all wait patiently for you to gather your bearings.

Just as you're about to voice more of your thoughts, your voice cracks and your throat closes up. You raise a hand and your eyes widened in concern. You can feel tears begin to pool up and you glance down, swallowing the lump in your throat and shaking your head. It's too soon. Your head begins swimming with different thoughts and you become unsure of where to even begin. None of the girls here could possibly understand, they are able to live with their best friends and lovers everyday. Each of them were going through their own bits of pain from Nozomi leaving and knowing that you weren't able to get yourself together by now might only burden them. The logical part of your brain tries to explain that this is all nonsense and all they want to do is help you, but you push the thought away and face your friends with an apologetic gaze.

"Please give me more time." Is all you say. "I just need more time. I'll be fine."

Later that evening you make a request for temporary sleeping arrangements in another room of the castle, where sleep comes easier for you and you aren't constantly reminded of the missing person in your life.

* * *

A month goes by and you still haven't opened up to anyone. You've done the complete opposite and have holed yourself up in your temporary room, focusing on nothing but paperwork and training. You request that meals be brought to you and you know you haven't seen quite a few people in days. You haven't bathed in around a week and the room is a complete mess. Nobody has questioned this. Everyone understands why you're so irritable.

By now Nozomi should be back in Akiba and commencing their plan to take back the crown. You're constantly on edge. You toss and turn in your sleep, you find anything and everything to distract you and put you to sleep. You can't stop overthinking and you can't stop worrying. The moment of truth might be upon the Akiba group and you don't have any idea if it has been successful or if Nozomi has-

You immediately shake your head.

That's impossible. You need to have faith. You need to believe in her.

You silently kneel beside your bed, bowing your head in prayer and willing any and all good luck to your beloved. You're oblivious to the door opening a slight crack and red eyes sending a worried glance in your direction. You don't even notice as the girl in question enters your room, placing a meal down on the cluttered desk before quietly walking back to the door and shutting it again. You don't hear the sounds of hushed talking behind the solid wood door. All you do is continue to will all the positive thoughts you can muster to the green eyed girl who is miles away from you.

* * *

You finally get it together enough to clean yourself up and be present during meal times. It's just beyond the seven week mark by now and there was still no word from the Akiba group yet. Nobody talks to you but you can feel the tense air coming from the few girls who are unsure of what to say or do around you. The Princess makes small talk, asking various things from you about the small ball they planned to host for her birthday. You appreciate the distraction and decide to join in on her birthday ball staff, knowing that it might be great at passing the time if you helped organize it all.

When you dismiss yourself from the table you don't realize until halfway down the hallway that the twin tailed girl had decided to follow you. She calls for your attention and you turn to her, raising your eyebrow curiously when you have to reprocess what she said.

"You should probably clench your jaw."

Before you get the chance to ask why a fist slams powerfully into your chin and you stumble backwards, covering the now sore spot and gazing furiously at the tiny girl who just struck you. You lower your hand and glance down to see that it's wet with red liquid that had begun oozing from your lower lip, where it appears you had bitten down on it rather hard. You take in a deep breath and exhale slowly, looking at Nico with a calmer gaze. Her eyes are just as angry as yours and she's holding up her fists, ready to strike you again.

"I'm not fighting you." You say flatly. "I'll disregard you punching me if you go back to your duties. I have my own things to take care of."

"Yeah, like running away from your issues some more!?" Nico accuses. Your eyes narrow warningly but she matches your gaze with her own, glaring up at your face furiously. "You just don't have the guts to face the music. You're a pathetic Captain."

You don't stop yourself as you throw a punch directly at Nico's nose.

Before you can even comprehend everything that's going on, you're being yanked off of Nico by Umi. Your left eye has been forced shut and your knuckles are sore from the times you missed the shorter girl and hit the floor or the wall instead. Your ponytail has been pulled from its tie enough that it clings loosely to your neck, leaving your hair messy and unkempt. Your sides hurt from when the two of you bumped into furniture and you struggle furiously to pull away from Umi and get one last good hit on Nico's now bloody face.

"CAPTAIN, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!" The normally calm navy haired girl shouts, surprising you so much that you freeze.

You suddenly realize that Nico isn't much better shape, one of her twin tails gone completely and her red eyes still glaring furiously at you as Maki yelled words you weren't really taking in at her. Her cheek was swollen and her nose didn't look like it was broken but that punch you aimed at her really did get her good. You can't help but huff and look away at the same time Nico does, unable to make eye contact with her.

"What on earth did you think you were doing!? You told me you were going to assist the captain, not start a fight with her!" Maki's voice finally catches your attention and you listen half heartedly as Nico grumbles her reply.

"I was."

"By punching her in the face!?"

"By reminding her that she's not the only one in pain!"

Maki is wordless as she closes her lips in a tight line, unable to say anything to Nico. Nico sniffles a bit, grumbling and crossing her arms as she turns away from the red head.

Nico's words still echo in your head and guilt washes over you as you remember that Nozomi didn't only leave her impression on you. She was friends with everyone in the squad too. Yes, you and her were close but Nico considered Nozomi to be her family, just like you. The squad loved her just as much. Nozomi was important to everyone and all this time you had kept yourself closed off because you didn't want to burden them with feelings they may not have understood. But you were wrong. There was at least one person who felt the exact same way you had right in front of you.

In your post fight haze you suddenly start to laugh. It's not a joyous sound and it starts out pretty quietly. When Umi is conscious of your body shaking and you suddenly grab your sides, she cautiously lets go of you and the group of three watch as you crumble in on yourself, your laughter getting louder and their gazes becoming more worried.

Next thing you know, tears are falling to the floor and you're covering your face with your hands, falling to your knees, and mumbling the words 'I'm sorry' over and over again. You're unable to handle just how blind you had been and you can't believe that you had forgotten you weren't the only one feeling excruciating pain from Nozomi's absence. This whole time you haven't been alone and yet you closed yourself off from everyone because you had truly believed you were.

You can hear the movement of others and the hushed whispers of them all. You pay no mind to it as you continue to let out all the pent up emotions you had been feeling. It was about time you had a good cry that wasn't alone in your room.

A hand gently rests on your shoulder and you looked through your fingers to see Nico looking down at you, a neutral expression on her face and most of the blood wiped away from her nose with her hair back in twin tails. She holds her hand out for yours and you hesitantly take it, letting the smaller girl hoist you up from your knees on the floor. You grab your hair tie, deciding to fix your ponytail and Nico proposes that the two of you talk privately, no more fighting. You nod wordlessly, feeling as if you owed it to Nico to let her know how you were feeling.

She begins walking, pausing only to look at Maki and mumble that she'll get to her duties as soon as possible. Maki says nothing and you follow the shorter girl wordlessly as the other two watch you walk away with worried gazes.

Nico leads you all the way to her room, opening the door and allowing you to walk in first. You thank her as you step inside and stand away from the door as she closes it behind herself. She then moves to her side table, opening the drawer and pulling out various bandages and a couple clean cloths. She moves herself over to her water basin where she pours out the pitcher of water inside of it. She soaks one of the cloths inside of it, ringing out the excess water before handing it to you. She tells you to begin wiping your face and you do as told, being extra careful of your swollen lip and eye.

Once finished, she takes the cloth from you and you notice she had been doing the same, the only traces of blood on her face are now from the small cuts she had received during your scuffle. She rings out the dirty rags and hangs them up to dry on a rack not far from her own fireplace before walking over to the bed, sitting down next to you.

"You're not leaving until you talk with me." She says sternly. You nod. You didn't plan on leaving without doing so either, so you were pleased that you both thought the same thing.

"I don't even know where to begin." You confess quietly.

"Begin wherever you want to. I'll follow along." She replies. She's watching you with waiting eyes and you think about how you want to start.

Without holding back, you finally open up. You tell the black haired girl everything. You tell her about how empty you feel, you tell her about the constant presence of Nozomi in your room. You tell her about how you can't show your true emotions without feeling overwhelmed and ready to cry. Nico listens to each of your confessions and you realize that you're able to speak freely to her about all this without crying. You have yet to shed a single tear and the other girl doesn't dare interrupt any of your sentences. She simply waits patiently, listening with full attention as you finally finish conveying absolutely everything you had been feeling in the last month and a half to her.

By the time you've finished, it's like a weight has been lifted off of your chest and you're finally able to sigh in relief. Getting all of that out was exhausting in it's own way but you felt good. You felt a lot better than you had. Nico notices and she sighs her own sigh of relief out too.

"I'm glad we feel the same." She says.

You look at her and soon the black haired girl begins to confess her feelings. Nico talks about how grateful she is for Maki's help. Maki is a saint and the perfect girlfriend and she really has been trying her hardest, but she doesn't quite understand how Nico felt. Maki didn't know what it felt like to lose someone very close to her. The closest she had ever felt to that was with Nico's original plan (which you had been shocked to only learn of then. Nico really was full of surprises.) Maki could only listen and offer very little comforting words. She really did do her best for Nico, letting Nico fall asleep with her and use her as a shoulder to cry on, but she knew she couldn't offer the comfort Nico had been looking for, even when Nico didn't know the kind of comfort she wanted.

You're speechless when Nico admits that despite how shitty you had been feeling, she knew you were the only one who could help. You understood everything Nico was feeling. You were the other closest person to Nozomi inside of that castle and while she treasured each friend she made here, nobody could deny that you and her would be feeling her absences the hardest.

"I'm sorry Nico. I haven't been there for you." You say apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. I should have been trying harder to get you to let me help in the first place." She says with a sigh. "But I didn't really know how. Not until today anyway."

"You thought beating me up was the best way to be there for me?" You raise your eyebrow at her and she shrugs.

"It was worth a shot. Now we're here."

You pause for a moment before sighing.

"Yeah. Now we're here." You repeat, wondering exactly what here was.

You're still upset. You still hurt. But Nico understood and Nico felt the same, so you weren't alone. You smile slightly to yourself, standing up from Nico's bed and stretching your limbs.

"Thank you, Nico." You say, giving her the first sincere smile you were able to manage in a long time. "I'm not going to let this control me anymore."

Nico smiles lightly at you as she stands as well. She reaches her hand up and clasps it onto your shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Good. It's about time." You laugh lightly at her comment and the two of you head towards your door.

"You'll be here if I need it though, right?" You ask a bit hesitantly. The black haired girl nods at you.

"Of course. And if I need you you'll be around too, right?" You don't even pause to answer.

"Absolutely."

* * *

Your name is Ayase Eli. It's been a week since you've had that talk with Nico and almost two months since Nozomi left. You've busied yourself with preparations for the Princess's birthday ball as well as taken back the duties that belonged to you. You go outside to train yourself twice every week and then spend the rest of your alone time with one of your friends to make up for the lost moments you had with them. You make sure to never skip a meal and whenever someone asks how you're feeling, you're honest with them. You've finally settled back into your actual room, dusting everything off and leaving Nozomi's possessions in the places she kept them, so that everything looks almost just as it did when she left. Some nights it is still a bit harder for you to fall asleep, but you don't really mind.

You've accepted that you aren't completely alright. You still miss your wife terribly, and your attempts to visit the garden have been very pitiful but you're getting there. Every day you're improving and every day you remind yourself to have faith in Nozomi. Nozomi believes in you, and you need to believe in her too. Sometimes you still find yourself wanting to cry at night and sometimes you feel lonelier than ever, but there's always someone there to remind you you aren't alone and that you're doing as well as can be expected. They remind you of all the happy things you had and all the good things to look forward to.

It really isn't much, but it helps in more ways than they could ever know.


End file.
